Thursday, 12 January 2012

L'Occitane Delice des Fruits and African Collection Hand Creams

Recently at the L'Occitane store, I picked up two of the African Collection Hand Creams in Desert Rose and Hibiscus Flower as they were on sale. Made of 20% shea butter, these never fail to provide much-needed immediate relief to my dry and peeling hands in the winter weather over here. The cream absorbs fairly quickly without too much of a greasy feeling. The soft floral scents are pleasant without being too strong or cloying. It's a pity that these are limited edition. The Delice des Fruits perfumed soap has a delectable fragrance of lemon and clementine, sweetened with sugar. This smells so divine that I'm reluctant to start using it! The Delice des Fleurs body milk features a combination of May rose and violet petal notes. The rose note in this is more subdued compared to Crabtree & Evelyn's Rosewater range. On a separate note, some ladies have asked me to review the Rouge Bunny Rouge Milk Aquarelle Foundation but I won't be able to do so for some time as I'm battling an eczema outbreak. It's traumatising dealing with eczema (which has caused the skin on my cheeks to turn leathery and bumpy) after having struggled with oily, acne-prone skin for so many years. So now I have an oily T-zone and eczema on my cheeks, ALL of which is still acne-prone. I'm hoping the antibiotics and Avene Cold Cream prescribed by the doctor will help to calm it, but the Avene cream feels like a layer of oil on my skin as the first ingredient is mineral oil. Anyhow, until the eczema clears up, I won't be using or reviewing any base makeup.

16 comments:

The wash and creams from the ego or egocort series battle eczema pretty well, though they may contains steroids, but they do help and soothe the most angry rashes from eczema. I remember Avene is just prescribed because it is very natural and contains barely any chemicals. You should check out products from ego or egocort. The most basic cream to soothe eczema is sold in Guardian pharmacies, but I recently read online that they have a whole range of washes, etc.

Great information. Just to add my two scents - The hibiscus is less floral than one would expect and has some heady undertones. The Desert Rose is not a "true rose." Rather it has a earthy smell that can sometimes smell damp. The other two scents (non-African) are very floral and the orange smells more like candied orange than that of orange blossom.I have never tried their soap. I might have to give them a whirl in the future since you had a good experience with them.

Oh my gosh, I can't imagine dealing with eczema and oily acne prone skin! That's like drying peeling skin that still gets acne :( is it a reaction from the cold weather? Take care and don't be too frustrated because clearing up the skin takes time! (I'm super guilty of randomly buying products hoping for a quick fix) going on roaccutane soon so hopefully that will fix my skin

Urgh, eczema sucks! I have it on my knees & elbows. Have you tried QV cream? It has a wonderful texture, I like it much better than Cetaphil or any of the other mild dry skin creams out there. Hope that your eczema clears up soon!

I tried avene cold cream several years back when battling sudden skin breakout. Despite seeing skin doc, situation didn't improve til I changed my Skincare regime to uk's sophyto cleanser , toner and serum. The toner especially helped to calm down inflammed skin. You might want to read up more on the brand and see if it might help your skin. Hope that your doc's prescription work well for you and a speedy recovery.

Hi, no worries, will wait for your review of the foundation after your skin heals. Just to share some tips on eczema which I get when I live outta Singapore in dry climates. Likewise, I also have oily & acne prone skin. Moisturize your skin 'like mad' to stop the loss of moisture which will only aggravate the eczema. Be extra gentle during this time and stop all the harsh acid treatments, e.g. AHA, and don't scratch no matter how itchy. 2 brands which I find very useful for eczema is Sebamed and Physiogel, which keeps mine under control 90% of the time now.

So sorry to hear about your eczema attack. I battled with mine for a whole year in 2011 before being persuaded to seek medical help. Dr Mark Tang @ National Skin Centre was able to prescribe the right dose of steroids to quickly bring my condition under control. It seems like you're overseas now but do call the NSC & book an appointment if you're back in SG. prior to seeing the doc, I tried so many "natural" ways, exercise (always been doing that) avoided seafood, nuts to no avail. Eczema is a genetic condition that is triggered by heat, stress & dryness & can be brought under control by steroids & moisturizer. Take care & hope you bring it under control soon!

hi tabby,Good luck with roaccutane. It helped to clear up my skin and take away all the oiliness, but unfortunately, the oil came back after I stopped taking the pills after 6 months. Not sure what the eczema is due to, but it's probably a combination of the dry winter weather and stress.

hi Michelle,I've never seen QV cream in the shops before, although I've read about it on Bittenbefore.com.

but just wanted to say that my doctor gave me an Avene cream to use (can't remember if it's the same as yours) but i didn't like it... and didn't find it helpful for my face eczema. Using Physiogel cream now and prefer it, also find it more moisturising. (i have combination skin btw)

it's sad to have to take a break from all the beauty products :(hope your skin recovers soon!

Thanks for the recommendation, will keep it in mind! The Avene cream seems to heavy duty to use in the long term as I think it may clog my pores, but it does seem to be helping to alleviate the eczema slowly.

hi haru! u can try the body shop tea tree oil stick, apply on affected areas twice daily and use it tgt with the foaming facial wash. it was really effective for me. all my pimples are now gone and it barely left me any scars. high recommended!or u can try out SES (skin enhancement system) a brand in the states. i have been using it for the past 5days and i am having much clearer skin now.